German brown trout and King Salmon at LOC Derby

by jmaloni

Sat, May 11th 2013 07:00 am

by
Mark Daul

Outdoors
in Niagara

The
picture you see here was taken at Fox BoyZ Marina (the old Petroy
Marina) in Youngstown. Fox BoyZ is one of 18 weigh stations spread
across the Lake Ontario counties of New York state for the annual
spring Lake Ontario Counties Derby (www.LOC.org).

Michael
Erhardt of Brockport is holding up a 13.5-pound German brown trout he
caught while fishing in front of Fort Niagara; Dawn Erhardt signed as
his witness. Both Erhardts entered in the LOC Derby and were fishing
off of Niagara Charter Capt. Chris Cinelli's vessel. This fish was
27 inches long; if you stretch out your hands to measure 27 inches
you will get a better feel of how big it really is. It is not a New
York state record, as that record was set back in 1997 when a
33-pound plus specimen was caught in Lake Ontario at Oswego.
Ironically, of all things that fisherman's name was Tony "Brown."

If
you never saw one of these trout before, you would be amazed by its
beauty. Its colors are a light golden brown background, and the dots
you see are black circular markings. Some have scattered red circular
markings as an added visual treat. The Erhardt catch didn't have
them.

Just
a gorgeous fish. But if you caught one it would fight you until your
arms feel limp.

The
first one I ever caught was off Joseph Davis State Park, off that
point in the river where the water picks up speed and gets deeper.
One nice spring day I called in sick at work and put my boat in at
Lewiston. I was self-employed, ha-ha!

Not
knowing what to fish for, I just wanted to be out there fishing for
something. I decided to fool around for perch, caught a few and after
an hour or so, I remembered a friend of mine, Chuck Pelcin. He kept
telling me how he had been catching German browns at the point at
Joseph Davis. I picked up my equipment, which featured a 6-pound test
monofilament line on the reel with a 7-foot light Fenwick rod. Pelcin
said he was using number K-8 silver Kwikfish, a banana shaped lure. I
had one in my tackle box.

Pelcin
said to drift right off that point with the Kwikfish on a 3-way
swivel rig, so I did. First drift, nothing. Four, five, six, drifts
later, nothing, and then on about the 10th drift, a fish grabbed the
lure and decided that wasn't what he expected, got mad, and decided
to take off with my bait. He first went out away from the boat toward
the center of the river, then downriver with the current - all the
while I'm expecting my line to snap. He was out of control. The
line probably didn't snap because of the 7-foot light action rod
that acted like a rubber band between me and the fish. I was excited,
as I found out the power of a brown trout that up to that time I had
only heard of. After probably a 45-minute fight and drifting in that
current clear past the park, and downriver somewhere, I was
determined that this was to be my fish.

Come
to think of it, it was tough out there being alone, trying to land my
fish and to keep the boat lined up so the line didn't get all
messed up so I could fight that fish at the proper angle. I must have
looked like a one-armed fisherman in a rowboat going around in
circles.

When
I finally got him (or her) up to the side of the boat, I reached for
the net, and no net! Poor planning, as I hadn't planned on fishing
for brown trout that day, so all I could do was hang on to it, and
admire its fighting ability and its colors. After finally getting him
up to the side of the boat, and several attempts to grab it by hand -
I swear it winked at me - it went sideways to show me his colors,
then took a flip just before my line snapped and he took off with my
$4 lure. So if you catch one with a silver banana shaped lure still
hanging out of its mouth, keep the lure, but I want that fish.

I
would guess my fish was about the size of the one Erhardt is holding.
However he landed his, so that is called "catching." A fishing
buddy of mine always said, "If it gets away, you can call it any
size you want, nobody will ever know." (Whether you are full of
B.S. or not). So, with that, could I put mine in the 20-pound range?

German
brown trout are not native to New York state. History has it they
were imported from Germany back in 1883 as eggs, then hatched in a
hatchery on Long Island. The old timers at that time rejected the
thought of these fish infiltrating their waters. In time they were
accepted and slowly became a prized catch by many in those days,
becoming famous for their fighting ability and table fare. We need to
thank the state Department of Environmental Conservation for the
foresight in stocking these critters all across the state. Stream
fishermen love them for their acrobatics and prowess. Lake fishermen
feel the same way, although those caught in the deeper waters of the
lake grow much larger. Stream fishermen probably get more excited
though, because they catch them on fly rods that are typically
lighter and longer, with lighter lines and on tiny imitation flys.
Fly-fishing is an art in itself.

This
story grew from a visit to the weigh station at Fox BoyZ Marina to
witness the fish that were being weighed in and visit with the
weigh-master, Mike George. While there, the brown trout by Erhardt
brought back some great memories and then another fish came in to be
weighed. It was a 26-pound, 7-ounce King Salmon caught by Ed Hetrick
from Edinburg, Pa. He said his fish was caught out at the "Red Can"
in Lake Ontario on top of 110 feet of water, and according to his
instruments, fishing down 58 feet with a flasher/fly combination.
Terry Fulkerson, from Polk, Pa., was his partner and witness to the
catch. The fish was caught off Fulkerson's fully equipped boat
named after the famous Beatles song "Hey Jude."

The
"Red Can" is a shipping lane buoy located about 31/2 miles in the
lake off Fort Niagara. Fulkerson and Hetrick fish together often.
Fulkerson said he fished this derby from when it was called the ESLO
Derby (the Empire State Lake Ontario derby), owned/operated by Dick
Schlyer. As time went on, a very capable and new owner/operator, Dave
Chilson from Rochester came along, and revived what Schlyer began.
Since then this derby has turned into the largest derby of its kind
in New York state and probably on the eastern seaboard.

The
spring derby runs from May 3 to May 12; the summer derby is from June
15 to July 28 and the finale is the fall derby running Aug. 16
through Sept. 2. Be sure to visit the LOC website for loads of good
information, and don't forget to visit Outdoors Niagara website for
hot spots and local fishing information. Just Google "Outdoors
Niagara," it will be at the top of your Google.

Last
but not least, even if you don't fish yourself, take a kid fishing
this spring and summer. You won't regret it, and you won't need a
license if that kid is under 16 years old and you don't actually
handle the fishing equipment. I know, it's a funny law but that's
what it is. Pack a lunch with some sodas and enjoy what a lot of us
already know what we have.

No.
1 bait is a worm. Squeamish? Wear gloves, hell, they don't bite. In
fact, New York state offers a Free Fishing Days weekend on June 29
and 30. No license is required by anyone fishing freshwater in the
state that weekend. A good time to take the family fishing!